Carles Puigdemont, fugitive ex-Catalan leader, detained by German police

BARCELONA, Spain -- Fugitive former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont is being held by German police on a Spanish arrest warrant after trying to cross into Germany from Denmark. 

Police in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein said highway police arrested Puigdemont on Sunday morning near the A7 highway that leads from Denmark into Germany. 

They said "Mr. Puigdemont is currently in police custody" and refused to give further details. 

His lawyer, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, confirmed to the Associated Press that German police stopped Puigdemont on Sunday when he was crossing the border. He says Puigdemont is at a police station. 

Alonso-Cuevillas says Puigdemont was on his way back to Belgium where he has been staying since fleeing Spain following a failed bid by his regional government in October to declare independence from Spain. 

A Spanish Supreme Court judge charged 13 Catalan separatist politicians with rebellion Friday for their attempts to make the region independent of Spain, dealing a heavy blow to the secessionist movement. The judge ordered international arrest warrants for the six Catalan officials who are fugitives, including Puigdemont.

Puigdemont faces charges of rebellion and sedition in Spain that could lead to 30 years in prison, BBC News reports.